You know it has been a long since you've done a podcast when you have to go back to your own site to find out the next episode number. This is episode 69 of the Live Music Podcast.

Welcome back everyone and I'm glad you are joining me once again after so long. It would be rude to not at least acknowledge the extended absence from the podcast world so lets go over that real quick. If I had to pick one reason that I stopped and I'm sure this is true for any others who have pod faded is just a lack of time and energy to put into it. This was compounded by some health issues that have since been put to bed and ultimately I just wasn't listening to as much live music recordings as I was did. Sure there were a few occasionally that I would jot down for a potential future episode but nothing much came of those. I also thought that if I did come back I could cut out a lot of the extra monotonous work that really wasn't all that necessary.

So why am I back now. Really it was just a what the hell I'm going to do a podcast moment. Unfortunately this does not mean that I will be returning to regularly producing podcasts again like in the old days. I just have too many other commitments that take precedence over this and in all likelihood it may be a 2-3 episodes a year kind of thing which is much more than I was doing. There are at least a few new artists that I have my eye on podcasting, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers definitely comes to mind.

As far as these other commitments a big part of that is starting a recipe and health blog at slowcarbchef.com. Switching to the the Slow Carb diet was an enormous part of getting me out of my health funk and in that process I became very passionate about eat healthy and cooking. So please check that out if you are interested.

In closing I want to thank you for understanding on the abrupt stoppage without explanation. I got a few messages curious about if there were going to be new episodes but nothing negative so I appreciate that.

The music for this episode features a band that I have listened to more and more since the last podcast and although I don't usually like to pick favorites if you pressed I would have to say they currently are at the top of the list for me.

This concert was recorded at the Firefly Festival in Dover, Delaware on July 22nd, 2012. I hope you like it and please tell your friends to listen as I'm sure a lot of my original subscribers are long gone. Special thanks goes out to the taper for making this show available and please support the Black Keys by purchasing albums and concert tickets. Looking forward to the next time friends, thanks for tuning in.

Welcome back, don’t call it a comeback, to the live music podcast episode 68. It has been quite some time since the last show and without going into too many details it was a break that was needed but it is good to be back. After such a long time is was going to take a very special concert to get me going again and I think that is what I have in store for you on this show.

The music I will be featuring is the first tribute concert to be featured on the livemusicpodcast and it will be a tough one to follow up on for any others. I heard about a Michael Jackson tribute concert in April from a friend of mine and without knowing any of the bands involved thought it was a safe enough bet for a good time. I didn’t have a lot to be worried about since there was plenty of buzz going around about the potential that this show would have given the collection of talented Kansas City musicians involved. The main group organizing it was the experimental world-jazz band Diverse but rotating in throughout the night was an eclectic group of musicians from various backgrounds. Its hard to truly appreciate the difficulty of pulling off a great MJ tribute show without descending into bad karaoke. You really get the sense of the singing talent that MJ possessed when you see how many different singers it really takes to match his vocal range and also the number of instruments on stage to create the full sound that a lot of his songs require. Seeing it firsthand these musicians from Kansas City were able to pull it off that night and I’m guessing MJ would have been very pleased. The release of this episode marks the 2 year anniversary of his passing so hopefully he would be pleased by my humble tribute to the king of pop as well. Please enjoy.

Song Listing 1) The Way You Make Me Feel 2) They Don't Really Care About Us 3) Human Nature 4) Bad 5) Never Can Say Goodbye 6) Thriller 7) Billie Jean 8) Earth Song 9) Rock With You 10) You Are Not Alone 11) Beat It

Bonus Song Listing 1) Black Or White 2) Man In the Mirror 3) I Can't Help It 4) Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough 5) The Girl Is Mine 6) Remember the Time 7) Rock With You

I am very pleased to announce the Live Music Podcast Facebook page has surpassed the 100 mark. Thanks to everyone for joining up and helping me reach this goal! I am now one step closer to having more fans than the pickle.

I’ve been wanting to feature a White Stripes concert for some time but especially after I watched their recent concert documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. If you have yet to see this I very highly recommend it. The film follows Jack and Meg White on their tour across Canada, making a stop at every single province and territory. There are lots of great behind the scenes footage included and the amazing live performances that you would expect so go rent or buy it now!

The concert that I will be featuring was captured on the grounds of the 2007 Bonnaroo Festival and will featuring many of the songs as in the movie since both occurred during the same year. It’s amazing to me how they are able cram the large number of songs into this show and with very little filler. This has to make it one of the most intense concerts as 2 people can ever hope to put together and so I give to you The White Stripes.

Song Listing 1) Dead Leaves 2) When I Hear My Name 3) Icky Thump 4) Hotel Yorba 5) Jolene 6) Death Letter 7) Motherless Children 8) Do 9) Ball & Biscuit 10) Black Math 11) Rag & Bone 12) Blue Orchid 13) Party Of Special Things To Do 14) I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself 15) We're Going To Be Friends 16) I'm a Martyr for My Love for You 17) Seven Nation Army

First off the Live Music Podcast Facebook fan count has increased its number to 96 and is incredibly close to my goal of 100 so thank you and welcome to the new fans. With any luck by the next podcast it’ll be over that magic 100 number.

With the timing of this episode it was pretty apparent to me that it was time to bring back an old favorite to the podcast. Most of you are probably aware that Bonnaroo happens around this time of year and also that Jack Johnson has a new release recently out called ‘To The Sea’. I thought it would be very fitting to feature his 2008 Bonnaroo recording which t features a tremendous set with amazing sound quality and even a guest appearance by Eddie Vedder. Not sure what more one could ask for, hope you enjoy it!

Real quick I want to bring attention to the Live Music Podcast Facebook Fan page where the total number of fans is now up to 92. First off thanks to everyone already there, but I think it would be great to get that number over 100. If you haven't joined or know someone that you think might please let them know. To do this click the Like button on the Facebook gadget.

The featured artist for this edition of the Live Music Podcast is my favorite Canadian alternative-rock group of all time, the Barenaked Ladies. There are some bands where the live show is basically a replaying of the recorded album on stage but with BNL you never know what you are going to get but you are guaranteed that it will be a fun time. Throughout the bands history they have always brought a lot of improvisation and creativity to their live shows and a great example of this is their 1996 live release Rock Spectacle which is the album that really introduced me to their music. The recording that I have for this show is approximately around the same era and was captured on July 31st, 1998 at Horde Fest in Holmdel, New Jersey.

I want to start this episode by giving a big shout out to the developers of the Audacity project. This is the software I use to put together this podcast and I just downloaded the latest version which includes a much improved Noise Removal utility. Hopefully you will notice much clearer sounding intros and outros going forward!

The artist for this episode is no stranger to the Live Music Podcast and has probably been featured more than anyone else in one incarnation or another. Of course, there is a very good reason for this since Ben Harper and the various musicians that he plays with have a reputation for excellent live performances. If you have never seen one in person I highly recommend putting it on your bucket list. The concert I am featuring might be one of the best sounding of his recordings and I have been very enthused to bring it to you ever since I recently discovered it. Here are Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals from their May 22, 2003 concert in Berlin, Germany.

"Before I get into the music portion of the show I want to use this episode to officially announce the Live Music Podcast’s Youtube video channel. Some of you may have already noticed this down the left side of the home page but if you haven’t been there in a while I encourage you to check it out. It is especially fitting to make this announcement now because the featured band for this episode is also featured in one of the videos posted there.

You may have noticed that I typically feature a lot of rock bands on the Live Music Podcast but every now and then I like to switch it up. The Charlie Hunter Trio is clearly in the jazz genre but if that doesn't appeal to you, do not be quickly discouraged since they can rock out as well. Take for instance the song "Cueball Boppin'" which is actually playing as I speak and has been the background music for every episode since the beginning of this podcast. I personally don’t take in many jazz shows but when I saw these guys last February at the Blue Room in Kansas City, I was blown away. It was an especially cool experience seeing them play in a very small club with a respectful and appreciative crowd who gave their full attention the entire show. That doesn’t happen very often at a lot of the rock shows I go to, which isn’t to say I don’t still enjoy them but it was interesting to see the difference. Even the people working there were exceptionally polite and actually apologized to us because there was limited seating and we had to sit at the bar about 20 feet from the stage. If you get a chance to see the Charlie Hunter Trio live please do not miss it but if they’ve already been through your town then this recording will have to be a temporary substitute. The concert I am featuring was recorded at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, MN on March 1st, 2010, just two days after the concert I saw in Kansas City. I now present to you Curtis Fowlkes on Trombone, Eric Kalb on Drums, and Charlie Hunter on 8 string guitar, also known as the Charlie Hunter Trio.

Ideally this show would have came out sooner so everyone could have listened to it on St Paddys Day, but a busy weekend followed by a Hendrix Tribute concert caused a slight delay in production. The timing for it, however, brings up a great lesson that its ok to enjoy Irish music the other 364 days of the year. Its kind of the same way one would continue to drink Guinness after St Paddys Day due to it being a very fine beverage. Well, this compilation showcases another fine Irish export, their music and musicians.

I have tried to cover a pretty wide range of styles any where from the Celtic Rock of the Young Dubliners, to traditional Irish folk songs, as well as some U2 and Sinead OConnor. I hope that you enjoy it and if you are holding a Guinness feel free to raise it for a toast. Slainte!

When I began this year’s podcasts with Episode 58 I mentioned having a stock pile of amazing shows to kick the year off with. Well this one definitely falls into that category. This episode features an audience recording that is truly a classic and also a first on my podcast featuring the artist known as the Boss. Back on November 19, 1984, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rolled into Kansas City to perform a 3+ hour marathon of a concert in a building filled with thousands of screaming fans. The sound quality and song selection made this recording an easy pick, especially after hearing Bruce mention Ames, IA during his epic finale. Of course Ames is home of the Iowa State Cyclones which is my alma mater.

As you can imagine it was very difficult to whittle 3 hrs down to just 1 but hopefully I did a decent enough job getting a sampling of the wide range of songs. I strongly encourage you to download the entire show in order to get the full experience. One highlight of the show that I didn’t include was about 20 minutes from the end of the set Bruce pauses for a moment just to announce that he got his second wind and goes right into a cover of “Twist and Shout” mixed in with “Do You Love Me?”. Listening to this concert, Bruce’s love for performing music is palpable and he truly earns his nickname of the Boss. That band of his can kick some butt too. Well here it is, I give to you Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!

I want to start the show by wishing everyone an early Happy Valentine’s Day or a late one depending on when you download this. Also I’d like to let my listeners know that I have noticed less downloads of the App bonus content than I would have expected. If you have purchased the App and need help accessing the bonus section please email me at livemusicpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks again for your downloads and support.

This past Tuesday was the release of the new Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds concert album “Live In Las Vegas”. This album includes the music from night three of Dave & Tim’s Las Vegas trilogy last December and I highly recommend picking up a copy of it. Partly due to this release, I thought the timing was perfect to finally podcast what I consider to be the finest live acoustic set ever captured by a taper. I played a Dave & Tim recording on the very first episode of this podcast and you don’t know how close I was to using this one instead of the 2006 Vegas show. Picking a Dave & Tim recording is extremely difficult because there are so many flat out amazing ones in circulation. So you might be asking yourself what makes this one so special. Audio quality is pretty much a given so lets just skip that. Next up is a passionate performance and excellent song selection…check and check. Finally you need something extra unique to make it stand out from the rest. Do special guests the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Carlos frickin’ Santana do it for you? I’d wager most of you will be in the hell ya category. Just a quick note before I get into it; you might notice a lot more space between the songs than I normally leave. This was done intentionally to highlight the often hilarious banter that comes out of Dave’s mouth, lovingly referred to as ‘Dave Speak’. Please enjoy Dave, Tim, and their guests from the March 14, 1999 performance in San Rafael, California.